Down Under | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Bm A | Bm G A :||
Verse 1
||: Bm A | Bm G A :||
Traveling in a fried-out Kombi.
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie.
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous.
And she took me in and gave me breakfast, and she said:
Chorus 1
||: D A | Bm G A :||
Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.
Instrumental 1
||: Bm A | Bm G A :||
Verse 2
Buying bread from a man in Brussels.
He was six-foot-four and full of muscle.
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
And he just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich, and he said:
Chorus 2
I come from a land down under.
Where beer does flow and men chunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover, yeah.
Instrumental 2
||: Bm A | Bm G A :|| x6
Verse 3
Lyin’ in a den in Bombay.
With a slack jaw, and not much to say.
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me?
Because I come from the land of plenty”, and he said:
Chorus 3
Do you come from a land down under? (Oh, yeah, yeah).
Where women glow and men plunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? (Ah-ha).
You better run, you better take cover.
Chorus 4
(‘Cause we are) Living in a land down under.
Where women glow and men plunder.
(Can) Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? (thunder)
You better run, you better take cover.
Chorus 5
Living in a land down under.
Where women glow and men plunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? (Oh, yeah)
You better run, you better take cover.
Chorus 6
(We are) Living in a land down under (oh yea).
Where women glow and men plunder.
(Yeah, yeah) Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? (Yeah, yeah, thunder).
You better run, you better take cover.
Chorus 7
Living in a land down under (Living in a land down under).
Where women glow and men plunder.
(Oh) Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.
Down Under Chords: Learn the progressions
Based on the extremely simple idea of resolving from IV – V (#2 on the top 10 chord progression list) to VI or to I, Down Under’s verse chords move like this:
||: Bm (VI) A (V) | Bm (VI) G (IV) A (V) :||
Whereas the chorus chords are:
||: D (I) A (V) | Bm (VI) G (IV) A (V) :||
This variation of resolving to either a Bm chord or a D chord is so simple yet so effective, just a slight tweak like this makes the chorus triumphant, and the verse reflective. This is also mirrored in the lyrics.
Perhaps most importantly, the underlying humour is necessary to make all this work.
Without the fun-loving cheeky side to it (flute helps!) it wouldn’t have worked as well as it did. The charm of Down Under and its appeal is down to that it’s fun.
To write a good, memorable song that is fun, is not easy – Men At Work’s Down Under may be one of the best examples of how to do this well.
To play this on one guitar we need to blend the bass line with chords and create space in order to make it groove.
I’ve designed some TAB for this, and for extra fun included that flute melody, which is incredibly intricate!
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Down Under – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
When you’ve been through the many pieces of TAB available there, a simple chord chart may be a good idea to just glance at in a gig, here’s one I made for you.
Down Under Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Down Under Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Down Under iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Down Under is Australia’s signature song!
Australian Men At Work formed during ‘79 in their native Melbourne out of an acoustic duo that grew into a band with the unusual addition of a Saxophonist who also played the flute.
The flute proved to be a masterstroke as it would make their biggest hit stand out!
Starting out playing the pub circuit, they soon found themselves to be the most popular band around and quickly signed with CBS to release their first album, Business As Usual in ‘81.
Down Under was the second single off the debut. As a single, it reached the #1 spot, which the album managed as well, a first for an Australian act in the U.S.
The band did release more singles that performed reasonably well, but nothing matched Down Under which after a few years reached worldwide recognition.
By ‘84, the internal conflict got the better of the group, eventually resulting in a solo career for the singer, Colin Hay.
Even though Down Under was an enormous success, Men At Work was no one-hit-wonder band.
Their New Wave-sounding pop was part of an early 80’s sound alongside bands such as The Police, New Order, Culture Club, Martha and the Muffins, and The Cure. Perhaps less punk than some of their contemporary bands, they sold 30 million albums.
Study the seemingly simple chords and lyrics to see how this worldwide smash hit was put together.
Down Under Chords | Related Pages
Down Under | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this lesson, you get TAB for how to Down Under‘s verse, chorus, and flute melody. There are 11 pieces of TAB here.
| Bm A | Bm G A |
Traveling in a fried-out Kombi…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Because I Got High chords by Afroman
- Dreadlock Holiday chords by 10cc
- Englishman In New York chords by Sting
- I Shot The Sheriff chords by Bob Marley
- Marry You chords by Bruno Mars
Men At Work tunes
Men At Work composed the hilarious Down Under which managed to become a #1 single and album in the U.S. No other Australian artist or band has managed this before or since.
Down Under has even gone on to become Australia’s signature song.
Men At Work on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Down Under chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
